Posted:
Quoting from the article referred by Surtaal. This describes the experience of riyaaz and points out that it is actually a yogic or meditative technique. Amazing!
The initial exercises in vocal training, described to me in 1992 by Pandit Vidhyadar Vyas, seem to lie on the cusp of sabda yoga techniques. A brief description of the exercise follows:
Breathing deeply, one sustains madhya sa [middle-range doh] for as long as possible in the course of a single exhalation, paying careful attention to the maintenance of steady pitch, an appropriate timbre, and relaxed vocal cords. Using the scale of the diatonic Bilaval that, one
descends stepwise through the mandra saptak [lower octave range] using one breath per svar[note]; upon singing the lowest comfortable note, one returns stepwise to madhya sa; then repeat.
The exercise should begin using omkar [or akar, the open vowel sound "ah"], which after several repetitions may be replaced with sargam [solfge]. The exercise proceeds very slowly, taking up to five or six minutes to descend from and return to sa. After repeating this cycle several times, one may proceed by repeating the exercise singing two svar per breath, increasing to three, four and five svar (and, of course, shortening the duration of each svar accordingly) until one completes the entire ascent and descent with one breath; one would then attempt to sing as many cycles as possible with a single breath, alternating omkar and sargam.
Attached to this exercise were largely practical prescriptions that lent the exercise a sense ofritual, a common feature of riaz (Neuman 1980: 38). It is to be practiced immediately after waking up; after completing one's toilet, one should drink a glass of water, and sit comfortably centred on the floor. It should be done for no longer than forty-five minutes, after which one should rest the voice for a half hour, silently doing errands or having breakfast.
One should then return to the exercise, working upward from madhya sa to the top of one's range, again to a maximum of forty-five minutes. Once one advances with this practice, cycle repetitions can be reduced so that one may exercise the entire range in the first session, repeating the same in the second. The ritualistic prescriptions or regularities that often characterize riaz are meant to establish an environment that is conducive to concentration, and which generally demarcates the session from other activities in which
one engages. Nachmanovitch (1990: 76) notes that such ritual preparation contributes to the effectiveness of the session which naturally flows through three phases: invocation, work, thanks.
While differing in significant ways, such preliminary vocal exercises (especially in the "slow phase") engage the faculties that are used in mantra/sabda yoga exercise: slow controlled breathing, regular repetition of sound, relaxed posture/performance, vocal control, and
concentrated listening. The degree of focus and absorption that arises from this exercise is extremely intense, instilling in the singer a psychic equilibrium and interiorization that takes one well beyond a normal musical experience. Vyas agreed that, while being excellent for developing musical sensibilities and technique, it was indeed an efficacious meditative
technique.
The initial exercises in vocal training, described to me in 1992 by Pandit Vidhyadar Vyas, seem to lie on the cusp of sabda yoga techniques. A brief description of the exercise follows:
Breathing deeply, one sustains madhya sa [middle-range doh] for as long as possible in the course of a single exhalation, paying careful attention to the maintenance of steady pitch, an appropriate timbre, and relaxed vocal cords. Using the scale of the diatonic Bilaval that, one
descends stepwise through the mandra saptak [lower octave range] using one breath per svar[note]; upon singing the lowest comfortable note, one returns stepwise to madhya sa; then repeat.
The exercise should begin using omkar [or akar, the open vowel sound "ah"], which after several repetitions may be replaced with sargam [solfge]. The exercise proceeds very slowly, taking up to five or six minutes to descend from and return to sa. After repeating this cycle several times, one may proceed by repeating the exercise singing two svar per breath, increasing to three, four and five svar (and, of course, shortening the duration of each svar accordingly) until one completes the entire ascent and descent with one breath; one would then attempt to sing as many cycles as possible with a single breath, alternating omkar and sargam.
Attached to this exercise were largely practical prescriptions that lent the exercise a sense ofritual, a common feature of riaz (Neuman 1980: 38). It is to be practiced immediately after waking up; after completing one's toilet, one should drink a glass of water, and sit comfortably centred on the floor. It should be done for no longer than forty-five minutes, after which one should rest the voice for a half hour, silently doing errands or having breakfast.
One should then return to the exercise, working upward from madhya sa to the top of one's range, again to a maximum of forty-five minutes. Once one advances with this practice, cycle repetitions can be reduced so that one may exercise the entire range in the first session, repeating the same in the second. The ritualistic prescriptions or regularities that often characterize riaz are meant to establish an environment that is conducive to concentration, and which generally demarcates the session from other activities in which
one engages. Nachmanovitch (1990: 76) notes that such ritual preparation contributes to the effectiveness of the session which naturally flows through three phases: invocation, work, thanks.
While differing in significant ways, such preliminary vocal exercises (especially in the "slow phase") engage the faculties that are used in mantra/sabda yoga exercise: slow controlled breathing, regular repetition of sound, relaxed posture/performance, vocal control, and
concentrated listening. The degree of focus and absorption that arises from this exercise is extremely intense, instilling in the singer a psychic equilibrium and interiorization that takes one well beyond a normal musical experience. Vyas agreed that, while being excellent for developing musical sensibilities and technique, it was indeed an efficacious meditative
technique.
